How much methane gas is used today as an energy source?
I think it’s safe to say that today more than 10 percent of the natural gas produced is methane gas. While there are other sources of methane gas, a substantial portion of that percentage is CBM gas. What are some of the legal issues involved in extracting methane gas? One of the initial and most important issues in extracting CBM has been the ownership of the gas. That is, who has the right to recover the gas or transfer that right of recovery to a third party? For example, where the owner of the surface land has deeded or leased the right to mine the coal, and perhaps has conveyed the oil and gas rights to another party, who has the rights to the CBM? Both of these parties may claim the right to recover the gas. In addition, the surface owner may claim that he or she still owns the right to the CBM, as it was never intended to be deeded or leased to the other owners of the mineral rights. Some courts have decided these issues by attempting to determine the intent of the parties at th
